Sion approached Tobias and made his presence known.

Tobias, the Principality waited before acknowledging Sions attendance. He ruffled the silver feathers of his magnificent wings and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hello, Sion. Trouble?"

Sion, the Archangel, drew a long breath and quickly let it out. "Looks like well have to send someone down. Heero Yuy needs our help."

"Heero Yuy?" Tobias asked himself, "Oh, yes! Tonight is his crucial night, your right. We will have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is it?"

"That is why I am here, sir," Sion replied, "It is Chesaras turn."

"Oh thats right," Tobias said, remembering the lively angel. "She hasnt gotten her wings yet, has she?"

"No, sir."

"Well, then send for her Sion. It is Christmas Eve and there is no time to waste."

Moments later, Tobias waited patiently for the one he called to come to him. Tobias was a highly respected Principality, not one to leave waiting.

Beside him, Sion waited also. He remained silent and still. Although he was of lower ranks than Tobias, he carried himself differently then the other lower beings. He had his wings and was abundantly proud of them. He had right to be. His wings were a sight to behold: long and gold with tips of silver. They were amazingly intricate for such a low rank celestial being.

"No wonder she does not have her wings yet," Tobias commented, "She cannot even be on time."

"She is young, sir," Sion replied. He expanded his wings, but only slightly, to stretch them.

Finally, Chesara, the angel they had been waiting for, arrived. She was an angel, but had not yet earned her wings and this could be her chance. Although she could have possibly blown that chance, the lunch that had caused her tardiness was worth it. Ah, heavenly food.

Tobias tried not to laugh. "Another late lunch, I see."

Chesara stopped in front of her superior. "Yes, sir. It will not happen again."

Sion could not prevent a slight smile from coming across his face. He knew Chesara tried hard to be a good angel. She was just a little . . . unorganized. Remembering his rank and duty, the smile left his heavenly features. "See that it does not."

"We do not have time for lectures on tardiness," Tobias stated, "We must get down to business."

Chesara bowed. "Yes, sir. For what did you call me?"

Sion nearly snickered at her tone. Seriousness did not become her.

"We have a new charge for you," Tobias said, "his name is Heero Yuy and he wants to throw away Gods most precious gift."

"I am to be his guardian angel?" Chesara asked, "trying to hold in her excitement."

"If you feel that you can handle it," Tobias answered, "You do have other charges after all, but this case needs your particular attention."

Chesara signaled her agreement.

"Heero Yuy is in deep need of your help, Chesara," Sion stepped up to joint the conversation. "His life and its future depend on you. Do you understand?"

Chesara nodded.

"All right then." Tobias waved his hand and a picture began to form on the nearest wall.

Chesara watched as a face began to materialize in front of her. His brown hair fell at strange angles and his uniquely blue eyes were deep for a mortal. His face was stern and his features were like stone, giving him an aged appearance. His thin, strong body was the only part of him that portrayed his young age.

"Is this him?" Chesara asked, curiously studying the picture of the boy in front of her.

"Yes," Tobias said, "This is Heero Yuy. Like I said before, he wants to reject Gods dear gift. He wants to die, to kill himself. You must go and make him see why that would be a mistake."

Chesara nodded. Chesara watched as the image before her warped to form a scene. There was a large bridge, covered in ice and snow with a thick black river running below it. A small figure appeared on the bridge then. Heero. Chesara observed him, watching his every depressed move and studying the location. It seemed to her that Heero had come to this spot many times before. He seemed familiar with it. His posture was slacked and he walked slowly, like he was not sure of something. The look on his face was so hard, so miserable. Yet he also appeared to be comfortable on the bride. Anxious yet comfortable at the same time. Mortals amazed her. Such simple yet complex creatures. Wonderful.

She turned to Tobias and Sion. "So you want me to go now then? It is Christmas Eve after all."

Tobias nodded his head. "You must accomplish this task tonight, but you must be serious about it. You have failed times before," he said.

At this, Chesara remembered the disappointments of her past. So many mistakes and so many careless errors in judgment.

"However," Sion added, sensing her pain, "We would not have summoned you had we believed that you could not accomplish this task. I have confidence in you, Chesara."

"Thank you, Sion."

She suddenly remembered something. "Sir," she said to them both, inquiring to whomever could answer her question. "Will this be enough for me to attain my wings?"

Sion nodded.

"Chesara," Tobias spoke up, "you must get going should you wish to save him. Time is short."

"Yes, sir."

Chesara vanished, off to the scene that had been in front of the angels.

Not long after, Sion vanished, leaving Tobias alone and pensive.

Traveling as a ray of light, Chesara left the heavenly domain that she lived in to enter the mortal realm - the Earth, the land where the Creatures that Die lived for their short time. Descending into the cold, she approached the bridge where her next assignment stood, where Heero Yuy stood, ready to die.

* * * *

Snow began falling again, as it had in a rhythm for the past few days. The land was painted white and the sky remained gray. Snow fell in a hurricane around all objects alone in its torrent, falling to the ground and creating sheets of ice covered the ground and hung on the edges of the riverbank.

The bridge was frozen almost completely; ice-cycles hung to the railing along the road, creating a jail for the cars crossing the bridge.

Heero walked onto the bridge, his jacket clutched tightly to him. His breathing was nervous, escaping his mouth and nose in white puffs of steam. His sneakers crunched the snow while threatening to slip across the frozen surface and send Heero to land on his rear. It had happened before. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would slip again.

Not that he cared right now, though, because he didnt. His thoughts werent focused on where he was, where he was going, or why, but on the events he had suffered earlier. He thought of Duo and the things he had told him. The things he had told Duo in response. He cringed at the thought. He had said such horrible things . . . And he did not understand why. He loved Duo. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt him. But something had set him off. Yet, never before had his emotions taken so much control. It wasnt that he did not like the feeling, he just was not used to it yet. Going from a life total control to one with limited control is not an easy job.

That morning, all that week in fact, Heero had been in a rather . . . disagreeable mood. Work, money, life; it had been getting to him lately. In his morning Mood he had said some vastly cruel things to Duo. He insulted him and cursed at him. Duo had done nothing but push for an answer to his question.

"Whats wrong with you?" Duo continually asked that morning.

He remembered the hurt look on Duos face when he had snapped a harsh "Nothing!" at him. All of the carefree and lightened characteristics of his face drained away, letting pain take over. Heero remembered Duos eyes the most. They were always so full and deep with anything and everything but pain. (Not like Heero had never seen Duo in pain, emotional or physical, but the fact that he had caused this pain . . .) At that moment Duos great eyes glazed over and narrowed.

Recalling the scene now, Heero couldnt even remember what he had said after that. All he could remember was yelling and fighting, and finally, he remembered leaving. For the first time ever Heero had walked out on Duo. For the first time, he had run away from something. Shit.

He had declared that he did not want this anymore, moved to the door and slammed it harshly behind him.

He had wondered, and ended up here; standing in the center of the bridge, his hands on the guard railing. Heeros bare hands fiercely gripped the frozen, steel bar, hating himself with every fiber of his being. All he ever did was cause pain to those around him. He caused pain especially to the one he did not want to hurt.

Thats when he believed they, all his friends and Duo, would be better off without him. If he were dead he would no longer be able to cause them pain. At least, this was his reasoning.

Heero looked down at his hands that were now white from the cold and from the force that his grip had taken. He stepped up to the railing and peered down at the river below. It was wonderful. The icy water churned and mixed with itself, climbing over rocks and any other obstacles. It sliced the frozen banks and cut into the beams of the bridge. The moon was reflected off of the miniature waves, distorting its mirrored shape and deforming its appearance. Despite its harsh actions, the river was picturesque. Peaceful and calming in its own right.

Heero glared at the river, ignoring the snow that was beginning to freeze his hair and the numbness in his hands. They would be happier if he wasnt there to hurt them . . .

Stepping up onto the lowest bar of the railing, Heero forced his anesthetized hands to loosen their grip a little. His breath deepened and his heart sped up. He was about to be frozen just by standing there; jumping into a freezing river could not fail him. He thought of Duo and how much happier he would be when Heero was gone and how he would be able to find someone who would not hurt him. He readied himself and took a deep breath.

There was a large splash as someone plunged into the water. Heero, a split second later, registered what was happening. He watched the water as a young girl, dressed in white winter clothing resurfaced below the bridge.

A gasp and a "Help!" echoed underneath the bridge, activating Heeros training. Automatically he jumped in after her.

The water stung his face the most; stabbing and torturing it like needles. He fought against the current and struggled to move his arms that seemed to be paralyzed in the river of ice. He could here more gasps for air and a couple more yells for help. He finally reached her and grabbed her arm. She immediately clutched onto him for floatation and took in a deep breath of the chilled air.

Heero swam with all his strength and finally brought them both to the bank of the river. The girl crawled onto the ground, catching her breath while Heero, momentarily distracted from his lifes troubles, pulled himself out of the river. No man alive would be able to ignore the cold that came upon him then. The water was hit with the air and began to turn to ice, stiffening his limbs and ripping at his lungs.

Both fortunately and unfortunately a bright light passed over them. Someone had seen them.

Heero forced his neck back to see a portly man with a flashlight running down the hill towards them. "Are you ok?" he yelled.

Heero tried to speak but he found his chest in too much pain. The man approached them, and began working to help them.

An hour later the three of them were warming themselves next to the fire inside the mans workroom. Heero cuddled a large blanket around his shoulders, staring into the fire. He was dressed in some bedclothes that the man, apparently named Charles, had given him. His shirt hung behind him, draped over a line that was attached to the walls of either side of the room and his pants, socks and jacket were next to them. Below the dripping clothes, his shoes laid on the floor.

Next to Heero, the girl who had fallen/jumped into the river stood buttoning up the clothes that Charles had given her to wear. Her dripping wet, nearly frozen clothes and shoes were beside Heeros. When she was done buttoning up her shirt, she began to ring out her long, dark, wavy hair. Amazingly, a moment later, her hair was dry.

Charles stood behind them, waiting for them to get comfortable. He finally decided to speak up. "How did you happen to fall in?" Charles asked.

"I didnt," The girl replied, "I jumped in to save Heero."

"What?" Heero asked, "Save me?"

"Yeah, it worked didnt it?" The girl replied, "You didnt go through with it did you?"

"Go through with what?" Heero was getting very confused.

"Well, suicide!" She explained like it should have been obvious to him. "I didnt want you to kill yourself. So I jumped in because I knew you would jump in to save me. And you did. Good thing too. Suicide is against the law where I come from."

"And where is that?"

"Heaven."

"Oh," said Heero sarcastically, "Hey, wait a minute. How did you know my name and what I was doing on the bridge? What are you some kind of psychic?"

"No."

"Then who are you?"

"Your guardian angel, Chesara Kirona," She replied, "ASC."

"Whats that mean?" Heero asked, referring to the last bit.

"Angel Second Class," Chesara replied matter-of-factly.

Ok, this was too much. A very freaked out Charles finally decided it was time for him to leave. These two crazies could get themselves to wherever they were going. He saw no reason to stick around and get warped like these two apparently were, so, he quickly left the room.

Heero was in disbelief and decided to play along. This Chesara girl was sticking to her story, might as well accept it. "So how do you know my name?"

"I told you," Chesara answered, approaching Heero and putting her hand on his shoulder, "I know everything about you. Im you guardian angel."

"Yeah, sure. "Heero shrugged her hand off of his shoulder and hugged the blanket tighter around him.

"Dont believe me?" Chesara knelt down so that she was face to face with the boy. "I know that you want to kill yourself because you believe all of you friends, and even Duo, would be better without you."

Heero looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. "What . . . ?"

"Am I lying?"

"Yes," he answered, looking away, "It would be better if I had never been born. I know things would be better."

Chesara was taken aback for a moment. Did he really mean that? She knew he did. Out of instinct she looked up at the ceiling and tried to communicate with Tobias. Can I do that? Is it allowed? A voice whispering the answer came into her head. Let him see what it would be like.

She nodded and turned back to Heero. He was deep in thought beside her, glaring at the fire burning and clapping before him. Chesara took a deep breath and there were a few moments of silence.

"Its done," she whispered.

Heero looked up, again, confused. "Whats done?" he asked.

"What you want," answered Chesara, "You were never born. If you dont believe me, be more observant." She pointed to him. "Your hair is no longer wet, or cold, is it?"

Heero lifted his hand and patted his mop of hair. It was neither wet nor cold. "That doesnt prove anything."

"Check your clothes, theyre dry."

Heero reluctantly rose from his seat and walked over to the clothing line. He inspected the shirt, pants and jacket. All dry. "That still doesnt prove anything. Hey, look, do you have anywhere to go?"

"No," Chesara stated, trying to think of another way to prove herself.

"Alright then," Heero said, beginning to dress himself in his own clothes, "Well Im going to go . . . somewhere."

Once dressed, Heero left the workroom. Chesara followed him closely, even though Heero tried to get her to leave. She had to see this thing out. Chesara had just granted a major wish and she had to make sure that Heero saw the truth.